People who traveled for a long time or lived abroad for a while, will most probably recognize this. In two weeks from now, we’ll fly to Holland for the holidays. After 6 months living in a totally different place, we will get the ‘so what is it like in ... Burma?’-question all the time.

Burma has the longest running civil war in the world; a dangerous mix of ethnic and religious tensions make most provinces a no-go area. It is still one of the most corrupt countries around, without law enforcement nor an independent legal system. It has the worst health care and education systems in the region and most people don’t even have access to electricity. At the same time the economy is growing, it allows more press freedom than most surrounding countries and there is almost no police to be seen in the streets (no parking tickets!).

We see extreme poverty every day, like the man who lives in a tiny shack in front of our apartment. We see extreme wealth, like the incredible mansion next door with several BMW’s in front of it, most probably a politician or military. We see hundreds of ruby red monks and bright pink nuns passing by in long rows in silence. We smell so many different tropical herbs, fruits and ... shit from the open sewers. We hear so much noise, day and night, of bugs, car horns and street sellers. So many mixed impressions all the time.

But when we’re back in our over-regulated, cold and odorless homeland, we’ll often be expected to simply answer that short question. Don’t get me wrong, I think it is really friendly and fine, but the catch is that some will be truly interested, but many actually won’t have the time nor energy to listen to detailed experiences. They’ll expect a similar answer as one is supposed to give to the ‘how are you?‘ question. So I’m practicing on my ‘top 10 short answers’. ;-)

1) Burma is really beautiful, but really poor
2) It is incredible, you can feel real democratic transition
3) Monks and monkeys
4) Well, it is actually ‘Myanmar’ ..
5) That railroad and Nobel prize winner with that difficult name are impressive yes
6) Dirty, corrupt and no internet, we love it
7) It is so happening, it is the future
8) The people are really nice, the food is good and stuff really cheap
9) As many traffic jams as anywhere actually
10) Hot